Property from a Connecticut Collection

The adjustable top with a reading stand and ratchet mechanism, on later castors

height 29 1/4 in.; width 25 1/4 in.; depth 18 1/2 in.
74.5 cm; 64 cm; 47 cm

Catalogue note

Mahogany tables with adjustable reading stands generally referred to today as architect's tables first appeared during the reign of George II, where they were described as artist's or reading and writing tables and could be used by both professional architects and draughtsmen as well as private individuals for reading and drawing whilst standing. The majority of surviving examples are in solid undecorated wood, like the table appearing in a c.1760 portrait of the Rev. Edward Foyle by Arthur Devis, until recently in the collection of Christopher Foyle, Beeleigh Abbey, Essex (sold Dominic Winter Auctions, 27 September 2023, lot 154). With its elegant pierced fretwork frieze on all sides and cluster column legs, the offered lot relates to two designs for 'Writing & Reading Tables' appearing in plate 24 of Ince & Mayhew's Universal System of Household Furniture published in 1762.

The discrete curved ratchets at the side are unusual, and they appear in four other recorded reading and writing tables also attributed to Ince & Mayhew:

1. Christie's London, 9 July 1992, lot 136, bearing the arms of Earl of Kerry
2. Christie's London, 9 July 1992, lot 142, formerly in the collections of Sir Sidney Greville, Percival Griffiths and Geoffrey Blackwell; illustrated in P. Macquoid and R. Edwards, The Dictionary of English Furniture, (London 1954), vol.III, p.186, fig.4 and also C. Jussel and W. DeGregorio, English Furniture 1680-1760, The Percival D. Griffiths Collection (London 2022), p.202, fig. F229
3. Noel Terry Collection, Fairfax House, York, illustrated in P. Brown, The Noel Terry Collection of Furniture and Clocks (York 1987), p.103, no.102
4. Christie's New York, French and Company - Magnificent French & English Furniture, 24 November 1998, lot 54

Based in London's Soho, William Ince (1737-1804) and John Mayhew (1736-1811)are first recorded as partners in December 1758, advertising from an address at Broad Street in January 1759. Earlier Mayhew had been apprenticed to William Bradshaw, and Ince to John West, before forming a brief partnership after West`s death in 1758 with Samuel Norman and James Whittle. In 1763 they were described as 'cabinet-makers, carvers and upholders’, and in 1778 'manufacturers of plate glass’ appeared on their bill heading. Following the 1762 publication of The Universal System of Household Furniture, whos designs were primarily in an advanced rococo style intended to compete with Thomas Chippendale's Director, the partnership was quick to embrace the newly emerging neoclassical taste and became involved with the architect Robert Adam, making furniture to his own designs for many of his important clients. Mayhew and Ince worked for many notable patrons including the Prince of Wales, the 5th Duke of Devonshire, the 5th Duke of Bedford, the 1st Duke of Northumberland and the 4th Duke of Marlborough.